Videos
19th October 2020
Democracy Under Siege: in conversation with Frank Furedi
Sociologist and author Frank Furedi's new book Democracy Under Siege: don't let them lock it down! is a short, sharp journey through the history of democratic - and anti-democratic - thought. From the ancient Greeks to 21st-century politicians, a fear of the masses has always thwarted a true realisation of democracy as a transformative means of organising society. Furedi argues that rather than fearing populist sentiments, its aspiration for solidarity should be cultivated in order to foster a tradition political participation and debate.
In this interview before the release of his new book, Frank Furedi talks to author and journalist Ella Whelan at home in his study.
26th August 2020
Why borders matter: SDP Talks
DP leader William Clouston speaks with Frank Furedi, academic and emeritus professor of sociology at the University of Kent. In this conversation, Frank talks about his new book, “Why Borders Matter”, and a variety of related cultural and social phenomena such as the fallout of the Covid-19 pandemic on open borders, the loss of a unifying culture, and the reception of the establishment to the “Black Lives Matter” movement.
15th July 2020
The Brendan O'Neill Show
Sociologist and spiked contributor Frank Furedi joins Brendan O’Neill to discuss his latest book, Why Borders Matter.
10th July 2020
Why Humanity Must Relearn the Art of Drawing Boundaries
Prof. Frank Furedi returns to "So What You're Saying Is..." to discuss his new book *Why Borders Matter: Why Humanity Must Relearn the Art of Drawing Boundaries*, in which Furedi argues that Western society has become estranged from the borders and social boundaries that have for centuries given meaning to human experience. This book argues that the controversy surrounding mass migration and physical borders runs in parallel and is closely connected to the debates surrounding the symbolic boundaries people need to guide on the issues of everyday life.
10th July 2020
Scientism and the Manufacture of Consent: then and now.
The Academy is the boi charity’s annual, residential event where people from all walks of life gather together to cultivate themselves with lectures and seminars, based around good books, and in good company. Whilst the regular, collegiate atmosphere of The Academy was sadly not possible in 2020, we gathered curious minds together on the original date of the scheduled event, Saturday 20 June – but we met online via Zoom. This session is a recording of the closing lecture, entitled: Scientism and the Manufacture of Consent: then and now.
1st July 2020
Book Launch: Why Borders Matter
Limits, boundaries and borders are increasingly unfashionable. Whether its support for the ‘no borders’ approach of Europhiles or the rejection of binaries by gender-theory enthusiasts, arguing for borders is difficult these days. In his new book, Why Borders Matter: why humanity must relearn the art of drawing boundaries, Professor Frank Furedi argues that the key driver of the confusion surrounding borders and boundaries is the difficulty that society has in endowing experience with meaning. Timandra Harkness and Professor Frank Furedi discuss with the Academy of Ideas.
14th April 2020
Susan Neiman and Frank Furedi on the moral responses to Covid-19
The worldwide response to the pandemic has challenged many long-cherished values. Democracy was put on hold, with elections postponed and parliaments in recess. Freedoms were curtailed, with extensive powers granted to police forces. Traditional markers of compassion, like funerals, were cancelled. And many say that essential workers, from nurses to shop-assistants, were put in harm’s way. Amidst such widespread moral challenges, how are we to decide what’s right? Whilst a rich tradition of philosophy reflects on how to be moral, can it be useful in such ‘unprecedented’ times? Is there anything we can learn from history? When we are urged to ‘follow the science’ and obey government guidance, is there any room for individual judgement and moral autonomy? Susan Neiman and Frank Furedi discuss with the Academy of Ideas.
14th April 2020
Cultural perspectives on a 21st century pandemic
Taking place each April at the CIEE Global Institute in central London, Living Freedom School provides a stimulating forum for around 50 young advocates of freedom to attend expert talks and participate in meaningful debates. In response to the coronavirus, LF held an online school in April 2020.
20 March 2020
Interrogating anti-Semitism - Deborah Lipstadt and Frank Furedi
IAnti-Semitism is rarely out of the news today, whether it is horrific incidents, new reports or the row within and about the UK Labour party. One of the key questions addressed by Lipstadt is whether expressions of ‘the oldest hatred’ today reflect the same prejudice that has faced Jews since the middle ages and culminated in the Holocaust, or whether something new has emerged. For sociologist Frank Furedi, it is the rise of identity politics that has recast Jewishness as a ‘privileged’ identity, making it acceptable to rehearse those stereotypes, often with lines blurred between criticisms of Israel and prejudice towards Jews. This excellent Battle of Ideas session was filmed and edited by WORLDbytes volunteers.
6th January 2020
The Academy 2019: the cultural turn
The culture wars that continue to define Western life seem to pit differing identities against each other in the friend or foe dynamic of contemporary debate. Ideas seem to clash – say globalisation against nationalism – but they are hollowed-out abstractions. The debates between say science and religion, church and state, modernism versus tradition, used to represent a dynamic and productive tension. Today the debates seem much less ambitious and they jump around. The culture wars have their roots in the nineteenth-century, culminating in the First World War which marked an end of the authority of tradition but failed to replace it. Why are certain areas chosen as battle grounds for the culture wars: for example in the pre-political sphere of the family, marriage, parenting, and so on? What are the chances for and what might a democratic political culture look like in the twenty-first century?
6th January 2020
The Academy 2019: the emergence of the culture wars
The culture wars that continue to define Western life seem to pit differing identities against each other in the friend or foe dynamic of contemporary debate. Ideas seem to clash – say globalisation against nationalism – but they are hollowed-out abstractions. The debates between say science and religion, church and state, modernism versus tradition, used to represent a dynamic and productive tension. Today the debates seem much less ambitious and they jump around. The culture wars have their roots in the nineteenth-century, culminating in the First World War which marked an end of the authority of tradition but failed to replace it. Why are certain areas chosen as battle grounds for the culture wars: for example in the pre-political sphere of the family, marriage, parenting, and so on? What are the chances for and what might a democratic political culture look like in the twenty-first century?
29th February 2019
What can we learn from the Sixties and the Sexual Revolution?
What can we learn from the Sixties and the Sexual Revolution? The 1960s is usually discussed as the moment when traditional morality was thrown into question. But how much impact did the Sixties, and the sexual revolution, really have? Professor Frank Furedi presents his take and argues that alongside liberation came the degradation of intimacy and ‘disenchantment’. This lecture and discussion was filmed at the Battle of Ideas Festival in November 2019. The chair is Dr Shirley Lawes.
11th January 2019
Identity Crisis
In this excellent Battle of Ideas session filmed and edited by WORLDbytes volunteers, Professor Frank Furedi gives us the historical low down on society’s concern with identity. Today’s identity politics, he explains, have absolutely no redeeming features.
9th November 2019
Hungary: the bad boy of Europe?
Over the course of the past nine years, Hungary, a nation of 10 million people has become the pet hate of the EU. The country’s leader, Viktor Orban, is reviled as an authoritarian. In this engaging and enlightening conversation Joan Hoey, Director, Europe, The Economist Intelligence Unit and Hungarian born sociologist, commentator and author Professor Frank Furedi discuss what has been driving the conflict between Hungary and the EU and what this tells us about today’s culture wars in Europe.
19th November 2019
Academic Freedom Under Threat: What’s to be Done? Session 5.1
2019 McDonald Centre for Theology, Ethics, and Public Life Annual Conference, University of Oxford
15th June 2018
Understanding the Populist Turn III
Instead of trying to understand voters for populist and nationalist parties, we often tend to dismiss them as racists, xenophobes, and second class citizens. During this programme, we are changing perspectives with one of the most renowned sociologists in the UK, Frank Furedi.
7th March 2019
Frank Furedi talks about his work
An introduction to Frank Furedi’s professional background as well as an oversight into his publication, Populism and the European Culture Wars: The Conflict of Values between Hungary and the EU.
22nd June 2017
College students 'think freedom is not a big deal'
Frank talks to Reason‘s Nick Gillespie about his book, What’s Happened to the University? and the decline of free speech on campus.
TEDx Limassol, 17th December 2015
Dare to know
Immanuel Kant’s ‘Dare To Know’ represented a foundational challenge to the Enlightenment. Yet, even today humanity finds it difficult to embrace new knowledge. This talk calls for the affirmation of the spirit of experimentation in every dimension of life.
30 October 2020
Book Launch: Democracy Under Siege
In his new book, Democracy Under Siege: don’t let them know it down!, Professor Frank Furedi argues that fear of democracy has almost always been a feature of Western society. He argues that, today, the moral authority of democracy is being openly questioned in the most explicit way since the 1930s. From Ancient Athens to present-day Brussels, Furedi reveals how democracy has never fully been realised, as elites throughout the centuries sought to temper and limit the influence that the masses had in political life. He concludes that even under the shadow of the pandemic, democracy must not be put on hold. Rather than fearing populist sentiments, an aspiration for solidarity should be cultivated in order to foster a tradition of political participation and debate. Frank Furedi and Ella Whelan discuss.